Athletics: Kiwis Hire Thompson for Commonwealth Games

Daley Thompson, voted Britain’s greatest sportsman of the 20th century but overlooked for a leading coaching position in UK Athletics, is to help New Zealand’s athletes prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next month. He will join their team on the Gold Coast in the run-up to the games.

"Daley is due to fly to Australia in late February and is more than happy to join us for a time," said Athletics New Zealand’s performance director Eric Hollingsworth, who, like Thompson, represented England and Great Britain as a decathlete.

Thompson, the 1980 and 1984 Olympic champion, applied for the head of performance post at UK Athletics when the head coach Max Jones left but was overlooked in favor of Dave Collins, who has little background in the sport and no coaching qualifications. "He is happy to see the success New Zealand athletes are enjoying and is happy to be associated with the team," said Hollingsworth. "He would not be there if he did not think he had something to offer."

Diane Allahgreen, Britain’s leading 100 meters hurdler, has retired at the age of 30 and only a month before she was due to compete at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. "After an achilles injury and operation last year I was starting to get back but it has been a long, hard slog," she said. "In order to continue with the success which I have had, I would have to put a lot more in. I feel like a change. The older you are, the longer it takes to get over injuries and the more injuries start to affect you."

The Liverpool runner recently opened a shop selling hair extensions and beauty products, and has completed a masters degree, qualifying as a social worker. "I really want to go down the business route," she said. "In the past I have always put athletics first and everything else second. I want to see what it would be like if I give my full effort to something else."

Sonia O’Sullivan, the world 5,000m champion in 1995 and the Olympic silver medalist in 2000, has secured a place in Australia’s team for the Commonwealth Games. The 36-year-old from Cobh took her citizenship two weeks ago in order to compete as her native Ireland is not a member of the Commonwealth. She still intends to compete for Ireland in the European Championships this year.

Kostas Kederis and Katerina Thanou, the Greek sprinters involved in a doping controversy on the eve of the Olympics, have begun a legal challenge against the body that will hear the appeal against their suspension. The duo want Yves Fortier to step down as president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s panel, alleging he is subject to a conflict of interest as the business partner of Stephen Drymer, who has worked for the World Anti-Doping Agency and was a clerk in their case before resigning.